I seem to remember that da Vinci used to have a chart on their homepage depicting an astronaut on a scale. It represented that da Vinci needed $500,000 to cover their final costs. That graphic is now gone. What's the significance of that?

Actually, I think what you were referring to was a 5 million dollar chart, of which 90% (4.5 million) was filled in. So I think Da Vinci's finances are pretty good, and this Sun sponsorship should push them over the top.

DaVinci had a technical conference on the 12th of December. While I've seen news articles mentioning the conference, I haven't seen any good articles about any of the data that was presented AT the conference. Anyone have any links?

The da Vinci entry has been cited as one of two front-runners and is David running against Goliath, Wildman said.

Wildfire's total budget is $5 million. Its main competitor, The Rutan, from California, has a $25-million budget covered by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

The Wildfire capsule is being launched from the world's largest helium balloon, while The Rutan shoots into space from a supersonic jet.

"It's the Canadian team with no money against the American team with unlimited resources," said Wildman. "But they just did some test flights and had a failed landing and our testing has gone perfectly. We feel like we have the edge."

End of quote.

First, Rutan is sponsored by Paul Allen, not Bill Gates. Next, I've never heard anything about the White Knight being a supersonic jet. Third, the comment about their testing going perfectly versus the problems at Scaled is pretty stupid, unless they provide some information about their testing (and since Scaled has shown a pattern of overcoming any problems). Does anyone know anything about Da Vinci's progress? Does anyone know of a team other than Scaled that has made a powered flight in their x-prize ship (and not just a scale or test model)?

Da Vinci looks like an interesting team, but this article made them look a little ridiculous.

My bias: Armadillo is my favorite team, but I actually like Scaled Composites and expect them to win.

Not the first time an ill-informed reporter got the facts wrong and made people look stupid....

As far as I can determine, daVinci has tested all of their components individually, but has only computer modeled the full assembly. Don't know if the launch indicated in the article is a "manned" launch.

Media from across the globe will descend on Kindersley for the launch. According to Wildman, CNN and the BBC have confirmed they will be there, as have other news agencies from Europe.

Doesn't seem like a test flight. I wouldn't have thought CNN would have cared, SS1's test flights weren't aired were they? Don't get me wrong, I think SS1 is possibly one of the coolest pieces of technology I've seen recently, and the concept of launching from a plane seems far more logical than launching a rocket from the ground. I'm just excited for everyone.

First, Rutan is sponsored by Paul Allen, not Bill Gates. Next, I've never heard anything about the White Knight being a supersonic jet. Third, the comment about their testing going perfectly versus the problems at Scaled is pretty stupid, unless they provide some information about their testing (and since Scaled has shown a pattern of overcoming any problems). Does anyone know anything about Da Vinci's progress? Does anyone know of a team other than Scaled that has made a powered flight in their x-prize ship (and not just a scale or test model)?

I would also like to add that Rutan is planning to fly the SS1 once a week for a year after the X-prize. That's 54 flights in all. That's $560,000 per fight.

Far as we know, Devinci is only making 2 fights for the X-prize only. That's 2.5 million per fight.

I first read about Rutan's plans for the SS1 in AW&ST magazine. There were other acticles on the net that also said this. Perhaps you could run a web search to find out more. Maybe at the AW&ST website.

Something else about the Tier One project (the name of the whole program), the $30 million USD cost doesn't just cover the White Knight/ SS1 itself. From Wired Magazine, July 2003:

"Back in Rutan's hangar sits the rest of his hardware: a stubby-winged craft dubbed SpaceShipOne, a full-on flight simulator, a mission control van, a rocket-engine test stand, and a refueling cart. "

That's 6 pieces of hardware. Divide that into $30 million alone and one get $5 million-- the cost of da Vinci (if they are using USD standard in their quotes).

"After the end of the funded program, Rutan would like to fly once a week to 100 km. for five months to discover operational issues and gauge recurring costs. He doesn't know if this will happen. His current guess is that costs would be under $80,000 per flight. But he can't charge for rides because the aircraft are not FAA-certified."

He just got a flight license for the SS1 lasting for a year,so who knows if he won't expand on the 5 month span.

I have great doubts about the announcement from da vinci that their are planning to launch this summer. If you look on their website their is no evidence which shows that they are actually building their vehicle. Only some pictures of their mockup. And if they want to launch this summer they will have to get things moving. They seem to have gone through a lot of designs for their vehicle. And i wonder which design they are actually are going to build. I also read somewhere that they are planning to use wood to build the vehicle, this seems a rather strange material for a space vehicle. Does anybody know if they are allready building the real vehicle and which design they have chosen?